(1) Field of the Invention
This disclosure pertains to a portable tray used by automobile mechanics and the like to store sockets. More specifically, the tray provides a number of upstanding resilient spring members which not only store and locate the sockets located thereon but also provide a spring force which grips the internal section of each socket to hold it securely in place.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
While the prior art has primarily been cluttered with homemade devices such as trays having dowel rods or round openings, drill rods extending from metal plates and the like, there have been few formal attempts to provide a product which is commercially feasible and commercially accepted. One such device which is currently available is merely a flat tray having circular openings extending therethrough. When the tray is lifted the sockets fall through because there is no structure provided for gripping or retaining the sockets to prevent the sockets from being dislodged or vibrated loose should the tray be inadvertently dropped or turned over or the like. While it has long been desirable to provide a device for neatly and securely storing mechanic's sockets in such a fashion that the sockets can be easily organized and viewed for selection purposes, there has been no product offered which has met all these requirements.
The socket tray shown in this disclosure fulfills the requirements. A tray is provided and is highly portable and has resilient gripping fingers which easily accept various size sockets, store the sockets neatly and provide a gripping force to hold the sockets in position so that they will not inadvertently become dislodged from the stored position.